Farther Along
by May Alice Page
Summary: A mini-sequel of sorts to my previous fic, Back to Baker Street. *I only own Jonathan. Cover image by gildingofnightfall.
1. Chapter 1

Jonathan slumped down on his uncle's armchair with one of Mrs. Judson's cheese crumpets. It was already rather late in the morning, but Dawson was still in his bed. Ever since their last case, Basil's flatmate had been utterly exhausted. The young man was still trying to wrap his head around how it could have only been two weeks since he and his friends had found Basil when it felt like it had been months, at least. "Young man," Basil snapped upon seeing him in such a position. "Sit up! For goodness sake, don't you know your manners?" Jonathan rolled his eyes at his hypocritical uncle, but straightened up nonetheless. Just as he took his first small bite out of the crumpet, the doorbell rang and Basil sauntered over to open it for a certain young lady with a thin Scottish accent and her father. Olivia didn't wait to be invited inside. "Good morning, Basil," she said as she strode straight into the parlour. "Hello, Miss Flinchester," Basil replied, trying to sound as though he meant it in some sort of begrudging way and giving Hiram a small nod to greet him. "I thought you'd be here," she half-teased Jonathan upon seeing him on the love seat. "Livvy," Jonathan stood up to speak to his friend. "Doesn't it feel strange that it's only been a couple of weeks since-" "I was just thinking of that! It really does!" Olivia interrupted. "Oh, are these Mrs. Judson's crumpets?" She reached down and picked one up off the tray. "Where is she, anyway?" Jonathan finished his crumpet and answered, "She and Dr. Dawson are still asleep." Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Really? It's already ten-thirty!" "Well, they've both been sleeping in a lot lately. Dawson still wakes up before her, though. Mrs. Judson tried getting up early today, but she went right back to bed after she made breakfast." Olivia felt a small bit of sadness in the pit of her stomach. It seemed to her that their friends were getting much older all of the sudden. Of course, Dr. Dawson was only in his early fifties, but Mrs. Judson was already seventy! She was able to shake the worry fairly quickly and go about her friendly conversation. "Well, I'm certainly glad she made these first," she smiled.

After about half an hour of small talk between the four who were already awake in the parlour, Dr. Dawson finally emerged from his bedroom. However, he didn't say much to anybody outside of simple pleasantries. It wasn't that he was at all hostile - simply tired. He still greeted them all with his always genuine smile. Soon after Dawson had finished his breakfast, there was a knock on the front door. The doctor stood up from the table to answer it for a distressed middle-aged man, whom Basil immediately recognised as the curator of the British Museum. The man didn't hesitate to report to Basil that there had been a break-in and robbery the night before, though he was vague on any details. Basil grabbed his hat and coat. "Come along, Dawson!" he called. "We've no time to lose!" Dr. Dawson hurriedly followed the detective out the door, closing it behind him. "Goodness," Hiram commented simply, pulling out his watch to check the time. "Oh, and I'd better be getting to work now. Olivia, would you like to stay here and visit for a little while? I'm sure Mrs. Judson will be awake soon." "Alright, Daddy. I can take a cab home later, I suppose." "Alright then," Hiram waved goodbye to his daughter as he stepped out the door, leaving her and Jonathan in the parlour, now the only two in the flat awake.

"You know something, Livvy?" Jonathan broke the silence after a moment. Olivia looked up at him inquisitively. "I don't think I was ever meant for detective work." "What do you mean?" Olivia almost laughed. "You were incredible on that case. You know that, don't you?" "Well, thank you, but I'm not nearly as good as a real detective is at deduction, and really all I did was knock a bat off a train and shoot a tire. And I had the feeling that entire time that I didn't really want to choose that as my line of work." Olivia crossed her arms and shuddered. "What is it, Livvy?" Jonathan asked, concerned. "It's alright, Jonathan. It's just that... Well, I thought you'd died then!" Jonathan frowned, his mouth parted slightly. Olivia continued, "You really have no idea how happy I was when I saw you again." "Well, I think I might have _some_ idea..." Jonathan replied under his breath. Just then, he found himself in another relieved embrace, which he should have come to expect from her by now. "Livvy," he chuckled. "It's okay. Everyone's just fine, and you really shouldn't be dwelling on bad memories like this." His friend pulled away and nodded in agreement. "You were the one who brought up the train, though," she muttered in mock spite. "So when do you think Mrs. Judson will get up?" "I have no clue," Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows in genuine curiosity. "It's almost noon already." "Hm. Do you think Basil would be angry if I looked at one of the books in his study?" "I'm not sure, but he might be a little bit annoyed." Olivia smiled and shrugged. "I'm alright with _that_."

She entered Basil's considerably-sized study, soon followed by Jonathan. She perused through several of the different books inside, but found them all rather boring. Jonathan simply watched her, and at times asked her what she thought of them, though the answer was always the same. Soon Olivia gave up on them and decided just to talk for a while. The two didn't have very much to talk about, since they'd spent a good amount of the two months they'd known each other talking, but still they managed to find some small things to discuss. Eventually, Olivia found herself unable to stop thinking about her grief when she had believed Jonathan dead. She looked at the floor and frowned. "Livvy," Jonathan caught her attention. "Are you alright? You're not still thinking about - Well, you know." "I'm sorry. I just can't help it." Jonathan sighed. "Livvy, it's _alright_." "Yes, I know it is, but it's as I said. I don't think you'll ever have the slightest idea how ecstatic I was when you showed up again." She almost started to tear up at the thought. "Olivia -" Jonathan began, but was interrupted when the young woman pulled him into a kiss. They both pulled away after several seconds. Jonathan gaped for a moment, still processing what had just happened. Olivia chuckled at the sight of him and quickly kissed him again, and this time it was able to sink in. The young man smiled at her in surprise, which she returned immediately.

Mrs. Judson came out of her bedroom at around twelve-forty-five. By then, Olivia and Jonathan had returned to the parlour. "Finally decided to join the world, Mrs. Judson?" Olivia joked. Mrs. Judson half-smiled in response. "Good morning, you two." "Morning?" Jonathan laughed. "Mrs. Judson, it's almost one o'clock!" "Oh, dear," Mrs. Judson stepped into the kitchen to make some more cheese crumpets just as Basil and Dr. Dawson entered. "You haven't solved the robbery already, Uncle Basil?" Jonathan asked. "It was much too easy," Basil huffed. "But the culprit is behind bars where he belongs, and that's really all that matters right now." "Well, congratulations," Olivia said as she started making her way to the door. "I'll see you all later!" She called to everyone, but waved only to Jonathan as she went outside to get herself a cab home. Basil, being his same old self, caught this and raised an eyebrow at his nephew, who only shrugged in response. The detective, however, quickly pieced together some of what must have happened and turned back around with a knowing smirk.


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of days later, the new routine hadn't changed a bit, save a few vague comments from Basil regarding Olivia and Jonathan. It wasn't that the two wanted to keep any of it a secret per say, but still Basil took every opportunity to rub in Jonathan's face that he had been right all along, just as always. Olivia took them all with a smile, having already told Hiram anyway. She hadn't been sure of whether she was supposed to, but she couldn't stand the idea of keeping anything else from her father; at least not yet. The poor man had looked as though he would faint when it really became apparent that Olivia would soon be a fully grown woman.

"You know, Basil," she grinned. "You weren't the only one who predicted it." Basil rolled his eyes, but didn't admit that this pride shouldn't have been only his. As much as Olivia had always gotten under his skin, the girl was undeniably bright. But Basil, being as stubborn as always, found a way to deny it nonetheless. "Miss Flendshingle-" "_Flaversham_." Olivia corrected, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Why don't you go see if Mrs. Judson is willing to get up? My word, it's almost noon!" "Alright," she complied. She slowly opened the door to the old woman's bedroom and poked her head inside to find that Mrs. Judson was still fast asleep. She hadn't the heart to wake the clearly exhausted lady, so she quietly closed the door and returned to the parlour. They all could do that day without Mrs. Judson's cooking, since Dr. Dawson had gone to the market the previous night, leaving Basil alone to mess around on his violin. So everyone but Hiram, who had stayed behind that morning to catch up on work, got by on apples and carrots for the time being.

Per usual, the four of them passed the time with small-talk for the next few hours, there being nothing of consequence occurring. At around three o'clock, Olivia went back to Mrs. Judson's room to see about waking her. For a moment nothing was heard from the parlour, but after a moment, a panicked shriek came from Mrs. Judson's bedroom. Olivia ran back out, shaking. If there was only one thing from that day that none of the rest would forget, it was the look of sheer horror on the young woman's tear-streaked face. "Olivia!" Dawson exclaimed. "What's the matter? What's happened?" Olivia's words were jumbled and she could hardly answer, so Jonathan ran to Mrs. Judson's doorway and looked inside. Through all of the commotion, only Olivia noticed Basil's solemn countenance. When he turned around his eyes were wide. "Uncle Basil," he began as he hurried back into the parlour. "She's-" "Dead." Basil finished quietly. He had already known from the instant he heard Olivia's scream. He remained stone-faced as the others gave him worried looks. "I'll have to find a pathologist, I suppose."

All of the rest gave each other the same despondent look, silently agreeing not to question why he wouldn't simply deduce the cause of death himself.


End file.
